We welcome you to JobBank USA and hope your job hunting experience
is a pleasant one. We hope you find our resources useful.
February 16, 2007
HARRISBURG, PA. - The Hershey Co., whose name has been synonymous with U.S. candy-making for more than a century, is moving a bigger chunk of its production to Mexico.
The company on Thursday announced a restructuring plan that will scale back its work force by 1,500 jobs and force some plants to close. Hershey said the three-year blueprint would reduce the number of production lines by more than one-third while saving the company as much as $190 million a year.
The maker of Hershey's Kisses, Reese's peanut butter cups and Mounds bars currently employs about 13,000 people at 20 plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The planned cuts amount to 11.5 percent of that work force.
Hershey's stock rose 1.6 percent Thursday to close at $52.10, up 80 cents.
The proportion of Hershey's manufacturing done in the United States and Canada will shrink from 90 percent to 80 percent. Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville said the impact will vary from one plant to another. "Some will be expanded, some will be downsized and some will close," he said.
A union leader suggested that the planned new plant in Monterrey, Mexico, would make the job cuts in the United States and Canada particularly acute.
Dennis Bomberger, business manager for Chocolate Workers Local 464, which represents 2,500 workers at Hershey plants in Hershey and Reading, speculated that the actual job cuts could have to be deeper to achieve a net work force reduction of 1,500.
"They're going to gain some jobs in Mexico,... so there's going to be a higher number lost" in the U.S. and Canada, Bomberger said. "Whenever they move something out the country, that's not good news for any company from the workers' standpoint."
Saville declined to discuss any details about the job cuts or the Mexico plant. Hershey managers began holding meetings with employees Thursday.
Hershey last month reported a 10 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings on lackluster sales.
The company said it will outsource production of low value-added items and that the new Mexico plant would help meet growing demand in that country.
Hershey reaffirmed its 3 percent to 4 percent long-term sales growth target.
Email This Page!